137 comments:

RUSH: "They were kids. The story is out, I don't know if it's true or not, but apparently the hijackers, these kids, the merchant marine organizers, Muslim kids, were upset, they wanted to just give the captain back and head home because they were running out of food, they were running out of fuel, they were surrounded by all these US Navy ships, big ships, and they just wanted out of there. That's the story, but then when one of them put a gun to the back of the captain, Mr. Phillips, then bam, bam, bam. There you have it, and three teenagers shot on the high seas at the order of President Obama."

RUSH: "You know what we have learned about the Somali pirates, the merchant marine organizers that were wiped out at the order of Barack Obama, you know what we learned about them? They were teenagers."

"That's the story, but then when one of them put a gun to the back of the captain, Mr. Phillips, then bam, bam, bam. There you have it, and three teenagers shot on the high seas at the order of President Obama."

You have to consider the joke in context. The left does a lot of screaming about teenagers. Everytime someone who committed a crime, no matter how horrible, and is executed for it the left screams about how America kills children. The left screams constantly about how there were "children" being held at GUITMO. Why constantly hear about how 19 year olds shooting each other in gang wars count as "child victims of gun crimes".

So now BO comes to office and a bunch of teenage Somali pirates take a sea captain hostage in the Indian Ocean and Obama oks blowing their heads off. Does Rush object to that? No. But it is pretty funny to point out how the left, who is normally so concerned about teenagers, no matter how vile, doesn't seem to have a problem with BO killing three teenagers in cold blood on the high seas.

Maybe the people who hate Limbaugh really are just stupid and think that he is serious about everything he says. Anyone with a tripple digit IQ and pays attention to politics pretty quickly listens to this and understands that it is making fun of the Left's faux concern over teenagers. But I guess if you have a low IQ or don't follow politics, you think Limbaugh is being literal and don't get it.

"John said..."You have to consider the joke in context. The left does a lot of screaming about teenagers."

Where?

When?"

Teenagers at GUITMO. People executed for crimes committed while teenagers. Teenagers who are killed in gang violence called "children".

Look at it this way, if the Navy had caught the pirates and were trying to hang them or give them life sentences, no doubt many on the left would be screaming that they were only children and it is terrible that we are doing this to them. But somehow it is ok just to shoot them?

If a minority teenager in this country is shot by the police while committing a crime, there is all sorts of handwringing on how racist our society is, etc. Rush simply applied that to a different level.

Awhile ago in my mixed up youth I hung around a big group of Goth kids, back when that was the thing to be. They had this fun game they'd play called "Squick the Mundanes." They really didn't act that oddly most of the time, they just dressed a bit oddly.

Anytime they were around non Goths (the Mundanes in question) they would go out of their way to act as bizarre as possible, play to all the Mundanes stereotypes, etc. The Mundanes would react, treat them like freaks, run away scared, or generally just not know what to do. And the Goths would laugh and laugh and laugh.

Rush doesn't play Squick the Mundanes. He plays Squick the Libs. Ann Coulter does too. And they do it very very well. For those of us in on it, its really quite funny.

John - "Teenagers at GUITMO. People executed for crimes committed while teenagers. Teenagers who are killed in gang violence called "children"."

You think only "liberals" are concerned about teenagers in the categories you mention?

You know that's a crock.

Steve - I've listened to Rush for years and he's not hard to understand. He's a right wing blowhard who will say literally anything to satisfy his wingnut audience (and about 75% of it's made up of people over 65 years old).

If Bush had done exactly what Obama did, it would be yet another sign he's Just Like Hitler. Since its Obama though, the usual suspects have nothing but praise for the cruel murder of these poor African teens who were driven to piracy by the cruel economic policies of the West.

Rushbo continuously tries to use humor and exaggeration to expose the hypocracy of the liberal beliefs canon. He does it so well that he has become a pleasure to listen to for most people who admire that degree of talent. Now that talent is not in anyway funny to the exposed persons. To them Rushbo is insane and evil. That's their story and they are going to stick to it. Let the games continue.

"Jeremy, you don't understand. You liberals are all like, "Don't shoot the black teenage criminal," see? But then here's a black liberal saying, "Go shoot the black teenage criminals." See?"

It is prime humor. You just don't like it because it is at your expense. If three black teenagers in LA had taken a hostage and the police gunned all three of them down, you don't think Al Sparpton and company wouldn't be up in arms?

How is this any different? Do Somali lives just count for less than American ones?

"Jeremy unfortunately lacks the set of "Those crazy liberals" stereotypes needed to grasp the Limbaughian humor."

No one can be so unself aware as to not understand what the point of the joke was. You may not like it or think that it is funny, but you knew exactly what he was talking about. If you didn't, then you just have a very poor grasp of satire and the spoken English language.

Jeremy you've convinced me. Rush must have changed. He's turned into a pro-defendant liberal. Who knew that a bunch of young pirates could touch the heart of an old bastard in such an unexpected way. It's a made for TV movie, it is.

Defending Rush Limbaugh (who most here constantly say they NEVER listen to) as being, not a right wing blowhard, but actually an intellectual that ONLY certain people understand and appreciate.

Especially his humor.

I swear, you can't make this stuff up."

Who said he was an intellectual? I suppose he might be to you since he tells jokes that go over your head, but no one else is claiming that. Further, whether you like Limbaugh or not doesn't change the objective fact that he was obviously satirizing liberals here and did not mean what he said to be taken literally. Is it your position that some people should never be defended even when the attacks against them are false? Yeah, that some real level headed fair thinking there.

I just read through the comments on TMV and here and I am blown away by the willful stupidity on display.

The writer of the TMV piece and then Jeremy and most of those leaving comments on TMV simply reacted to the "story" in a Pavlovian knee-jerk way and missed the joke.

Unfortunately, once the joke is explained they can't simply go "oops, my bad". They need to stick to their guns and dig deeper - mustn't look foolish now!

Did you know that in 1729 the 18th century equivalent of Rush Limbaugh, Jonathan Swift, odiously proposed that the Irish address their hunger by eating their own children!?! I thought that was the most vile horrible thing anyone could ever suggest. But now, I realize, Rush is even worse than Jonathan Swift.

;)

What's sadder than seeing a known moron like Jeremy/Michael/LuckOldson miss the joke is to see one of the intelligent progressives on the board, Former Law Student, join in and intentionally pretend not to get the point.

FLS, are you so insecure that you would rather pretend to be too stupid to get the point of this satire than actually acknowledge the point and debate it directly?

Does the reaction of liberals applauding the pirate shootings reveal a double standard on issues of race and class and crime? Would you guys be applauding Bush in the same circumstances? Will you admit that progressives often discuss the "barbarism" of America for executing "children" (i.e. 25 year olds who committed horribly gruesome murders when they were 17 - the age of these pirates)?

Do liberal hyperventilate whenever a black teenager is shot by the police?

Al Sharpton at least has the integrity to be consistent. He refers to the teenage pirates as the "Somali coast guard", just as he lionizes any given black street thug shot by police.

Won't you show at least as much integrity as Al Sharpton? Surely you can rise to that low threshold!

AlphaLiberal, if you stop by you should reflect on how being a knee-jerk partisan got Jeremy into trouble here. Kind of like your post about the NY shooter being a Rush Limbaugh spawn. Hey, I just realized something. In both cases derangement about Rush Limbaugh was a proximate cause of the beclowning....

"It does however matter if there is really a joke there or not. I read the link several times and i can't find it...or was it Mr. Chubby's vocal inflections that I missed?"

Read my post above at 3:26 pm. It explains the joke and its context in small words and simple sentences you can understand. With your apparent limited understanding of the English language, it might be tough going. But Former Law Student managed to get it, so I think you can to if you try hard enough.

Years ago, when Ireland was really poor and England was oppressing it, there was this guy named Jonathan Swift who wrote something called, "A Modest Proposal." It said babies were really tender and the Irish had too many so they should fatten them up and sell them to the English to eat. Lots of people say he was a brilliant satirist but I think he was just plain mean.

"He is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act. ... This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox."

"Too many whites are getting away with drug use...Too many whites are getting away with drug sales...The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them, and send them up the river, too."(Now THAT is FUNNY)

Just another example that the Left has no sense of humor. Rush was just being facetious. If this had happened during the Bush Administration, the second guessing, cowboy diplomacy and 3 DEAD BLACK TEENAGERS would be the meme.

Oberman does a daily worst person on earth segment. He means it. He is not being funny or trying to be funny. He really seems to want it to be taken literally. Yet, no one calls him a hatemonger or seems to have a problem with him.

Rush is nothing but a conservative version of Jon Stewart. They both have large audiences of loyal sycophants, both are totally one sided, and both more entertainment than substance. If you live in Williamsburg and shop at Whole Foods you watch the Daily Show. If you drive a truck and shop at Wall Mart you listen to Rush.

If you live in Williamsburg and shop at Whole Foods you watch the Daily Show. If you drive a truck and shop at Wall Mart you listen to Rush.You are only half right. I do not drive a truck but I do love me some Walmart.

Oh, I knew it was supposed to be funny. That's an important distinction that the professor clarified. But for me, Rush is like watching a Bulgarian stand-up comedian: You know it's supposed to be funny, but you just don't get the humor.

I get that Rush thought he was being funny. I mean "3 Dead Black Teenagers," obviously a kneeslapper.

The difference between Rush and Jon Stewart is the presence of the other side of the argument. Stewart is a liberal, although he makes fun of everyone. He also sometimes has conservatives on his show. Rush is smart, but often gets away with dealing primarily in straw men. He only talks to a liberal if one sneaks through his call screener.

I loved how in that segment Rush tossed off a diss of the International Maritime Bureau, the agency that keeps tabs on piracy statistics, as "another useless bureaucracy that does nothing but watch." Come on!

I don't get it-- in Rush's ideal world, men of action run around acting, presumably using violence mainly, without information or the interference of liberals to help them determine where to act. I am thankful I don't live in that world. It would be a world of a billion Amadou Dialos, where the government such as it was would consist solely of the pentagon, with some Rush-like figure as dictator, presumably. Not a pretty scene.

Here's John's explanation of Rush's "joke":"So now BO comes to office and a bunch of teenage Somali pirates take a sea captain hostage in the Indian Ocean and Obama oks blowing their heads off. Does Rush object to that? No. But it is pretty funny to point out how the left, who is normally so concerned about teenagers, no matter how vile, doesn't seem to have a problem with BO killing three teenagers in cold blood on the high seas."

"I don't get it-- in Rush's ideal world, men of action run around acting, presumably using violence mainly, without information or the interference of liberals to help them determine where to act. I am thankful I don't live in that world. It would be a world of a billion Amadou Dialos, where the government such as it was would consist solely of the pentagon, with some Rush-like figure as dictator, presumably. Not a pretty scene."

First, I assume you are angry at Obama for just shooting the pirates. Second, what is your alternative to men of action defending you? Calling the UN? What is your ideal world? A world were piracy, a scorge of civilization that disapeared for over a 100 years now returns? A world were countries routinely commit genocide in places like the Sudan with no consiquences? A world where a terrorist who hides among the civilian population and specifically targets unarmed civilians for murder is entitled to more due process and protections than a uniformed soldier abiding by the laws of war?

It would be a world of a billion Amadou Dialos, where the government such as it was would consist solely of the pentagon, with some Rush-like figure as dictator, presumably. Not a pretty scene. Funny you should mention this. Earlier today Rush did two solid hours on his Pentagon-only government model, and on his qualification for being God Emperor For Life. You truly have your thumb on the pulse of the Rush Limbaaugh Show.

"also, how the hell do people like Rush and Glenn Reynolds know what the reaction of people would be "if this was the Bush administration", and when will that schtick die?"

Because we saw 8 years of it. When Bush used a preditor drone to kill three terrorists in Yemen, the same people who now are saying nothing about this, had a fit. That schitke won't die unless and until the left starts holding Obama to the same standards that they held Bush to.

A few days ago damn near everybody here said Obama really didn't have much to do with the Seals taking out the pirates, it was the military...but now, since Rush has entered the fray, we get this drivel:

"BO killing three teenagers in cold blood on the high seas..."

Now Obama didn't just issue the approval...he actually did the killing.

RightThinker said..."Closed minded people tend not to understand satire."

You're confusing satire with right wing bullshit.

Point out the "satire" in Rush Limbaugh's statement.

Was it the "gun to the back of the captain, Mr. Phillips" or the "bam, bam, bam" or the "three teenagers shot" or "the order of President Obama?"

Rush is suddenly trying to defend the indefensible and many here think he's being "satirical."

If George W. Bush had ordered the Seals you would be screaming to high heaven about what a great leader he is...and how American doesn't take no shit from these fucking pirates...and I don't care how old they are.

Oh, I knew it was supposed to be funny. That's an important distinction that the professor clarified. But for me, Rush is like watching a Bulgarian stand-up comedian: You know it's supposed to be funny, but you just don't get the humor.There's no problem with not getting Rush's humor. We all have different tastes. Some didn't like Bob Hope's humor; others didn't get The Three Stooges.

What's wrong is pretending that what Rush said as a joke should be taken literally and on that basis to condemn him. Rush, being satirical, says, "If Obama is right, we should do X" and his opponents criticize him for wanting X. On today's broadcast, for example, Rush was "arguing" that each of us should borrow as much from our family and friends as possible -- far more than any bank would reasonably lend to us. Then, when we found it difficult to meet our debt obligations, we should go ask the Chinese government for a loan. As a final resort, we should go door-to-door in our neighborhood and ask (with a gun if necessary) for those who hadn't borrowed to excess to help us pay off our debts.

I didn't find the riff funny, but I didn't for a moment believe Rush intended anyone to borrow one dime based on his "advice on how to get out of financial difficulty". It would be wrong to paint Rush as wanting American families to incur more debt based on what he said on today's program, yet that's exactly the type of argument you see with his comments taken out of context.

None of this is to say it's unfair to criticize Rush (or anyone else) for making a bad joke. Nor is it to say any topic can be dealt with as long as "you're joking". Some jokes are just in bad taste and some jokes are not funny. Yet, Rush is not being accused of the minor crimes of bad taste or being a poor comedian; he's being tarred as evil because he "wants" evil things to happen.

Right-wingers talk about people like Al Sharpton as grievance artists. I tend to agree with that, but that's the same category I put Rush in. He's there to stroke grievances. He can talk for three hours at a stretch in beautiful stentorian tones, because none of it has to add up to anything logical in the end. That's why he doesn't need a teleprompter. It's all knee-jerk. I point out he throws in a criticism of the International Maritime Bureau. It's an organization that tracks and coordinates the countering of fraud and piracy. Presumably this helps various countries' law enforcement bodies work in concert. But I don't know and neither does Rush. To Rush it's just "another bureaucracy that watches." See, it doesn't make any sense-- it doesn't have to. He doesn't have to actually know about anything to talk about it-- it fits into some preconceived notion that bureaucracy is ineffective. Are all organizations the same? Should humans no longer organize themselves for various ends? Questions of logic and rationality have no bearing to him or his listeners. They just want to feel superior to straw men. That's why it's entertainment, like masturbating to porn, doing drugs, shopping, or the movies. It just allows you not to think for a while.

Now al Qaeda is telling Somali pirates to attack American Merchant ships. Great. Obama just got us involved war with pirates of the Horn of Africa. These pirates have no WMD's and are teenage thugs, but since O had to go all cowboy on them to prove his manhood (he gave the order!) we now have to spend money fighting an unnecessary war.

Brilliant. This all could have been solved by the State Department or the UN.

"Well the real tragedy is that we executed three members of the Somali volunteer coast guard."

Best comment. :-)

DKWalser explained very well what Rush is doing. To take what Rush said at face value, as if he was making a serious statement, a person has to be stupid or else lying.

Rush really is NOT that hard to understand.

As a serious comment on the ages of the pirates... they were by no means children, but they weren't possibly in a position to undertake this on their own. Someone got them the weapons and someone got them a boat... in the end, that is who killed them. Yes, killed them with US Navy bullets, but killed them just the same.

Synova said: As a serious comment on the ages of the pirates... they were by no means children, but they weren't possibly in a position to undertake this on their own. Someone got them the weapons and someone got them a boat...Sounds like another reason to close that gun show loophole and ban assault weapons again...

Was it the "gun to the back of the captain, Mr. Phillips" or the "bam, bam, bam" or the "three teenagers shot" or "the order of President Obama?"

Rush is suddenly trying to defend the indefensible and many here think he's being "satirical."

If George W. Bush had ordered the Seals you would be screaming to high heaven about what a great leader he is...and how American doesn't take no shit from these fucking pirates...and I don't care how old they are."

You are starting to get it. Keep trying. I have little doubt that Rush applauded the vanquishing of the pirates. For him, it was really irrelevant that they were teenagers. They had guns. They threatened to use them. On sailors on a U.S. flagged ship. They died.

Jeremy, did you know Jonathan Swift proposed eating Irish babies? And yet to this day his writings are treated seriously in our colleges! We need you to lead the courageous charge against these anti-Irish, pro-anthropophagy institutions!

Explain why anyone with an ounce of sense or independence would refer to themselves as a fucking "dittohead."Maybe they do it just to piss off people like you Michael. As you have stated numerous times the only reason you post here is that you enjoy irritating people. Go figure, moron.

Jeremy:"This is the first time I've ever heard the argument that Rush is just too smart for some people to understand."Jeremy, we're making the argument that Rush is just too smart for YOU to understand.

Jeremy, I would ask you to go back and read the Rush excerpt one more time. It's not long. Pause a moment and take note of this sentence:

Now, just imagine the hue and cry had a Republican president ordered the shooting of black teenagers on the high seasThen read the rest and see if any lights go off. (Hint: Rush is imagining the hue and cry if Obama were a Republican. You can't possibly believe that Rush is upset that the Navy killed some pirates so it should not be so hard to consider that he was aiming for something else.)

Dear President Obama,I must commend you for your brave decision to have the teenage Somali pirates exterminated by our brave Navy Seals. Here in the City of Chicago our public school children are being assassinated by similar groups of teenagers. They are called street gangs and dope dealers. They claim to be political activists, legitimate entrepreneurs, tribes, and community activists. They go by the names- Latin Kings, Mickey Cobras, Satan Disciples, Vice Lords, Conservative Vice Lords, Ambrose, Two Sixers, and others.

Our mayor is helpless and incompetent to deal with this situation. Our police superintendent is a stuttering moron. These teenagers are holding whole neighborhoods hostage with acts of terror, mayhem, and murder. Children are being gunned down on the streets everyday; some near your own neighborhood.

Please, Mr. President, I implore you, help us save the children. I will provide you the exact coordinates where these teenage terrorists hide and conduct their affairs. Could you please send the Navy Seals to Chicago to exterminate this teen menace. It would take about three or four sniper teams and about one week to complete the mission.

This is for the children, Mr. President. Their lives are at stake. Please help them.

Explain why anyone with an ounce of sense or independence would refer to themselves as a fucking "dittohead.".OK. The 'ditto' part came about because every single caller would begin their call with some inane statements about how great it is to be talking on the radio, stupid how are you today statments, praises for Rush etc. All of which took up too much air time. Less time for Rush to talk. So one time it got to where some one said "ditto" what the last guy said, and that sort of stuck. So now instead of the blah blah blah time wasting..... they just say ditto or mega ditto and get on with making a statement

Does everyone who calls into the show agree with Rush. I don't know since I haven't listened to him during the day because I have a job. But I think, yea probably. However, there are a lot of people who call in who don't go lock step with him>

It is like Dark Eden pointed out. Rush is playing Squick the Libs. And they are just dumb enough not to get it.

I like that on Monday it was obvious Rush didn't care about the details of the captain rescue.

He was so busy going after BHO and Goldberg that he didn't bother to follow any details of the rescue beyond the initial (wrong) reports of the rescue. He didn't know that the captain had not jumped out as part of the rescue.

It doesn't really matter, but it is interesting that Rush tuned away from the facts of this story early on so that he could focus on his imaginary world in radio land. He didn't even bother to read anything about the facts of the rescue on Monday morning before going on the air. Not that facts are ever the point of his profe$$ional conservatism. But, this was the extraordinary rescue of an American by SEALs, seems like a lot of folks might have a drive to closely follow this heroism. Not Rush.

Sure, that's an easy one. Lefties are famously opposed to harsh punishment of underage criminals (or adult criminals, for that matter). See, e.g., left-wing opposition to capital punishment for teenagers, opposition to trying teenagers as adults, and so on. They are also famously opposed to law enforcement or military killings of criminals and enemy forces.

This brings us to this last week, where Obama has a bunch of black teenage pirates shot.

Needless to say if it had been the LAPD gunning down three black criminals in South Central the left would even now be organizing massive protest marches and demanding prosecution of the officers involved. But since it was their man in the White House giving the orders, they're hailing his grand leadership and praising the decision he made.

The "joke" is that Rush is feigning the kind of concern that the Left WOULD be exhibiting if there wasn't a left-wing President giving the kill order. I've no doubt that in reality Rush, like pretty much everyone on the right, is pleased as bunch that these thugs are dead. :)

Apparently Limbaugh can whip up anti-Obama outrage with a totally farcical attack that belies his own past statements and the worldview of most of his listeners. All over America, conservative guys are coming home from work in their pickup trucks all mad about Obama shooting teenage pirates.

Or maybe not. Maybe, in order to take Limbaugh's charge seriously, you have to start at squeamish.

In which case, what Limbaugh is doing, Moderate Voice -- and Jeremy, is yanking your chain. The only reason you consider his shtick outrageous is because you are conditioned to give credence to its inane premise. Maybe that's what happens to your brain when you obsess about illegal wars for 8 years.

What Limbaugh is really doing is distracting his listeners from an Obama success story: that the President defined clear rules of engagement for the Navy that allowed them to act.

If you're going to get pissed at Limbaugh, at least get pissed at him for the right reason.

The part about "a gun to the back of the captain, Mr. Phillips" or "three teenagers shot" or "at the order of President Obama."

Which part is the funniest to you?

And do you think the Captain's family thinks it was funny?So, are you arguing that they WEREN'T killed by order of Obama? Man, it's weird to see the first black youths the Left wanted to see killed...well, since the 1950's, anyway.

...that you'll admit to...

Defending Rush Limbaugh (who most here constantly say they NEVER listen to) as being, not a right wing blowhard, but actually an intellectual that ONLY certain people understand and appreciate.I don't think he's a genius. But I also doubt "smarter than Jeremy" requires genius to any appreciable degree.

As for I.Q. if you think those with reasonable intelligence spend a minute of their time listening to Rush Limbaugh you're dumber than I thought...and that takes some doing.Whoa! Are you calling the Left blogosphere AND the President of the US dumb?

I've always thought the sucking among the regulars here was insane, but now...seeing the incredible outpouring of support and sucking of Rush's (teabags)...who, by the way NOBODY here ever listens to...is something to behold.

Keep in mind Jeremy under a former name spent most of a day defending drugging and sodomizing a 14 year old girl. Said she "trapped" the attacker. Why people engage him on anything is beyond me. You can search the archives for the thread on Roman Polanski. He has no interesting in swaying you to his POV or hearing your response. He is a monkey in a cage, amusing himself by throwing his own shit.

Lefties are famously opposed to harsh punishment of underage criminals (or adult criminals, for that matter).

Imus, who is a certified panty-wearing leftie, says Rush is the best radio guy he's ever heard.

The first assertion sounds like a strawman argument to me. I don't know anyone who thinks criminals of whatever age don't deserve imprisonment. This thread has taught me that Rush's humor is impenetrable to those who lack familiarity with the full panoply of right-wing stereotypes about the left.

The other assertion makes no sense either, unless Imus was criticizing the college women basketball team of "nappy-headed hos" because they belonged to the Young Republicans.

Honest to God there is little funny about El Rushbo unless you enjoy turd in the punchbowl humor and run around asking someone to pull your finger.

The entire world might be one long satirical joke to the gasbag but the sad thing is his audience who believes his endless "facts made up on the fly" harranges are the truth.

When confronted daily by an overweight ego that either lies 100% of the time or tells the truth 100% of the time, it is pretty hard to know which is which. This reduces to one man's fact is another's fancy and reduces Rushbo to Schultz's Jolly Joker.

"The "joke" is that Rush is feigning the kind of concern that the Left WOULD be exhibiting if there wasn't a left-wing President giving the kill order. I've no doubt that in reality Rush, like pretty much everyone on the right, is pleased as bunch that these thugs are dead. :)"Thank you! That's it exactly! The "joke" is that we on the right get to feign outrage over the deaths of poor, innocent children shot like dogs by evil soldiers the way the Left got to feign outrage over every act of violence committed by police or soldiers, especially over the last eight years.

Of course, the real joke is that the Left wasn't feigning, whilst the Right is. We're thrilled that the pirates were taken down, but it's good to give the Left a taste of its own medicine.

The difference between Rush and Jon Stewart is the presence of the other side of the argument. Stewart is a liberal, although he makes fun of everyone. He also sometimes has conservatives on his show. Rush is smart, but often gets away with dealing primarily in straw men. He only talks to a liberal if one sneaks through his call screener.So, basically, what you're saying is that both men have total control over when and under what circumstances they speak to a member of their opposition on-air.

Jeremy, please stop. I too think Rush is an asshole, but it's apparent that you simply have failed to comprehend his schtick here. Is it funny? Who cares? It's meant to be funny, and the fact that you don't understand that is Just Plain Sad. Either you're fucking with us, or you honestly believe that Rush Limbaugh is decrying the shooting of these pirates.